NAIROBI, (Xinhua) --
Kenya’s Ezekiel Chebii said he is keen to defend his title
in the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon on March 4 in Japan
after missing out on the World Half Marathon team.

Chebii, who holds a
personal best time of 2:06:07, will face a line-up
including Switzerland’s Tadesse Abraham (2:06:40),
Ethiopia’s Abera Kuma (2:05:56) and Italy’s European
marathon champion Daniele Meucci (2:10:56).

Last year, Chebii led
compatriot Vincent Kipruto to a 1-2 finish in the men’s
race edging out Ugandan Solomon Mutai to third place timed
at 2:09:59.

“I was hoping to run
under two hours and six minutes but the last half of the
race was quite difficult with wind. Hopefully this year it
will present better weather and fast pace setters because
I intend to run fast time,” Chebii said on Wednesday.

Leading domestic runners
in the field include Satoru Sasaki (2:08:56), Takuya
Noguchi (2:08:59) and Takuya Fukatsu (2:09:31) while New
Zealand’s Jake Robertson will make his marathon debut.

Meanwhile, in Rotterdam,
Ethiopians Getu Feleke (2:04:50) and Mule Wasihun
(2:05:39) are the fastest runners on paper for the Dutch
Port city Marathon on April 8.

The lineup also includes
five more runners with sub-2:07 best times including
Kenyans Laban Korir (2:06:05), Marius Kipserem (2:06:11),
Festus Talam (2:06:13), Felix Kirwa (2:06:13) and
Ethiopia’s Kelkile Gezahegh (2:06:56).